Blonds have more fun
by DSISandraPullman39
Summary: "You are still drop dead gorgeous, nothing about you could change that fact you just don't look like you that's all I was surprised but then that's what we want isn't it?"
1. Chapter 1

**Blonds have more fun? 1/4**

**Disclaimer:-** Don't own them just borrowing!

**Episode:- **None

**Pairing:- **Sandra/ Gerry

**Rating:-** M

**Achieve:- . /group/new_tricksff/**

**Summary:- **"You are still drop dead gorgeous, nothing about you could change that fact you just don't look like you that's all I was surprised but then that's what we want isn't it?"

**Author's Note:- **In answer to the "Hair dye" challenge rated for language and sexual content in later chapters. Enjoy and reviews would be lovely!

"You know I wouldn't ask if there was anyone else to do it Sandra I know you're needed downstairs but this is too important to go with a less experienced officer." He really thinks flattery will get him somewhere here all that crap about experience and only I can do it is bollocks. What he's really saying is no one else wants it. The boys and I are right in the middle of a huge case that he knows I should be supervising not to mention Gerry and I have plans this weekend but he wants me to go half way across the country in some wild goose chase undercover operation that will get us nowhere.

"Sir we're really close to a break in this case I don't think it's a good idea for me to be away from my own team for a whole week right now." He's not going to take no for an answer I can already tell he's not but I have to at least try.

"I realise that but really we need you to do this, here's the details and a picture of Mrs Wilson we need you to try to look as much like you could be her sister as possible or Marx isn't going to believe it. Anything you need just let us know and we'll provide it for you there'll be a car there to pick you up in the morning at 9." See now I'm being dismissed god that man makes my blood boil at times what the hell am I supposed to do now? The boys are going to go nuts and when Gerry realises not only am I going to be out of the office for a week but out of the city too he's going to be furious that I've "let" Strickland completely spoil our plans but it's not like I'm in a position to tell him no am I? Whether I like it or not he's still my boss and I have to follow orders!

"How are you supposed to even pull this off?" Gerry is, as I predicted, furious about the whole undercover thing and now that we're home and I have all the case details laid out on the kitchen table trying to make some sense of it while he cooks it's only getting worse.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Gerry I love you too!" I am starting to get a little irritated, actually make that bloody pissed off, at his insistence that I can't deal with this. I mean I'm damn good at my job and I have worked undercover loads of times why should this be any different?

"Sandra even setting aside the fact that Marx is a whack job and I'm not happy about you being involved in this at all because I think he's dangerous have a look at the photo of Mrs Wilson, she's brunette and when you look at the family shots that are in there so where her parents how exactly are you supposed to pass yourself off as her blond blue eyed sister it doesn't hold water and Marx is going to see through you in 10 seconds flat then you're going to be in serious danger. Tell Strickland to go screw himself we have a case of our own to work."

"You know I can't tell him to screw himself no matter how much I want to but I agree I'll have to change my hair colour to do it otherwise…"

"Wow stop right there. Change your hair colour? You can't be serious Sandra you are not dying your hair if you insist on doing this that's what wigs are for." I could have told you that would be his reaction. He loves my hair it's one of the things he claims first attracted him to me and the idea that I might dramatically change it was never going to go down well. I stopped on the way home and bought a temporary "dark mahogany" dye and I'm going to put it in after dinner I just need to talk him round first.

"I can't wear a wig Gerry it's too easily spotted and it's not like I'm going to permanently go dark it's a temporary hair dye it'll be gone in 8-12 washes. I can't get out of doing this so if I have to wouldn't you rather I did it in a way that made it as likely as possible that I'll get away with it without being caught?" Now he doesn't know what to say because while he doesn't want me to change my hair colour he also doesn't want me to be discovered and at risk in the operation either.

"Fine but you promise that it'll only be for a week or so? That as soon as you get back from this thing you'll wash it out?"

"I promise. Why would I want to stay brunette when it's totally true that blonds have more fun especially when you're around." He's relented now and has just set my plate down in front of me so for now the discussion is over.

"Sandra what's taking so long you've been out of the bathroom for ages and the hair drier hasn't been going for the last ten minutes I want to see it because if you don't look like you could actually pass for Wilson's sister I swear I'll tell Strickland you're not doing it myself." I'm sitting at the dressing table in our bedroom and I'm not sure if I can move, I can accept that I had to do this to make sure the operation works and I can even live with it because I know it's not for long but the shock of seeing myself as I look now has rooted me to the spot. I never had any desire to be anything other than blond and now when I look at myself I can see that there was a good reason for that.

"I'm coming now, look just don't laugh ok?" I don't think he's going to be in the mood to laugh anyway but if he does I think I might cry.

"Just come down and….." Oh god his mouth is actually hanging open he looks like he's seen a ghost!

"I look terrible don't I?" This is the point where I really want him to lie and say no I look fine but it's been a good thirty seconds and he's still not said a word.

"No, no you don't look terrible, you could never look terrible it's just…well it's so different." Oh god I don't think I can go out the door like this let alone pull off a week long undercover operation.

"I do look terrible how can I do this if I can't even look at myself in the mirror? I'm not going to last ten minutes he's going to take one look at me and think fake!"

"Calm down." He's pulled me into his arms and his gently running his fingers through my hair smiling reassuringly. "You are still drop dead gorgeous, nothing about you could change that fact you just don't look like you that's all I was surprised but then that's what we want isn't it? If you looked like you it would only be putting you in danger."

"Yeah I suppose." The way he's kissing me tells me he can still see the real me behind the hair dye and I know he's right not looking like myself is exactly what I was aiming for I'm just not sure I like it and I swear as soon as this is over it will be back to blond all the way.


	2. Chapter 2

**Blonds have more fun? 2/4**

"Gerry can you put me out a cup of coffee I only have an hour before Strickland sends the car for me and I'm not even finished packing yet." He's been deliberately being obstructive this morning. I know he's worried about be going on this undercover job but really I could do with a little help or I'm never going to get out of here. Yes before you point it out I know that is probably his aim but making my life more difficult this morning is not going to mean I will suddenly not have to go it just means I will be stressed and we will probably end up arguing before I do.

"Sandra have you actually read this file that his nibs gave you yesterday?" Well duh of course I haven't he knows I haven't I was planning on doing it at the hotel tonight before meeting this Marx bloke tomorrow but since I've just walked into the kitchen to find my requested cup of coffee missing and him looking properly worried I may have been better reading it myself.

"No you know I haven't had time I looked at the basics then I was doing my hair then you distracted me by reminding me that you still find me irresistible even when I'm a brunette. I'll read it tonight at the hotel after I've been briefed by the local guys about what they need me to do." Oh god I can already tell I'm going to get a lecture here about how I shouldn't be doing this and how Strickland is taking advantage and how they need me in the office but he looks a little pale which is not normal when he's building up to a rant.

"I don't want you going and it's not because I'm having a tantrum about Strickland asking you to do it when we have a case or to do with you being away for a week of any of the crap I'm deadly serious here. Have you any idea what this Marx fella did to the woman who's sister you are glibly going to be?"

"He murdered her, we deal with murderers every day of our working life Gerry it comes with the territory." He's starting to piss me off now with this whole master and protector crap I don't need his permission to go and do my job and so far I think I've been pretty patient with his comments about whether I can pull this off but I'm about to lose it here.

"He didn't murder her he tortured and butchered her. He waited until she was asleep then he injected her with a paralysing agent that meant she was conscious through everything he did the pathologist reckons that she was alive when 95% of her injuries were inflicted and he took his time with it too, two days he kept her drugged and had his fun torturing her. There is no way that anyone should be being thrown in there as some sort of twisted bait to try to get this guy to confess and it certainly shouldn't be you. Don't you realise bastard like him don't have a conscience or a better nature to appeal to they are just evil twisted shits who get their kicks from torturing women." Ok that wasn't what I was expecting and maybe I should have read the file in a little more detail last night but it doesn't change the fact that I am now committed to doing this and that it is now only half an hour till the car arrives to take me to the Basingstoke hotel where I'm supposed to be staying to attend my sister's funeral.

"Gerry it's fine it's not like I'm going in there without back up, there'll always be someone just a call away and at any event including the funeral there'll be loads of our guys right there with me. I know what I'm doing…"

"Yeah I'm sure Annie Martin thought she knew what she was doing too, I'm sure she thought she had it all under control right up to the second she woke up with a fucking syringe sticking out of a vein unable to move and at the mercy of this evil shit." He really needs to calm down now, remember I said he was pale well that's changed now he's such an alarming shade of beetroot that I'm worried he's about to have a heart attack.

"Sit down Gerry and listen to me." At least he's actually doing what he's told. "I will never be in a position where he could do anything to me while I slept because I will never be alone with him at night. Actually I'll never be completely alone with him at all we already have a guy on the inside working as one of his bodyguards who will make sure that if I'm with Marx he's there too apparently he doesn't do anything without out a BG our guy put in his report that the only thing he ever does alone is use the bathroom and shag and I have no intention of being around for either of those things."

"You bloody well better not be." See he's starting to calm down a little my slightly bad taste joke eve raised a smile.

"I know you're worried, I know you're frightened and frankly so am I but I can do this, it's what I was trained to do and it's what I did do on a semi-regular basis before UCOS, hell we've even indulged in a little undercover work ourselves if you recall."

"Yeah and look at how that finished up with me ending up in hospital for two days with a fractured nose and three broken ribs and that time we were together we could look out for each other and more importantly I could look out for you. Now I have to sit at home for a week worrying myself sick that you're at the mercy of this guy." Oh god this is going to be harder than I thought I didn't really consider how hard it would be for him to know the sort of situations I'd be in and not be able to be there to make sure I was ok but he's going to have to get used to the fact that will happen from time to time and we can't always be super glued to each other's sides because we feel like no one else can protect each of us as well as the other can.

"Ok look the car is going to be here in five minute so listen and listen good ok? I'm going to be back here in a week having nailed this guy and the only sick and twisted things he's going to be experiencing are the things the other inmates will do to him when they find out what he's inside for. I love you and I know you're going to be worried about me but I promise every night I will call home and let you know I'm ok and if I don't you have my personal permission to march into Strickland's office and demand that I be brought home. Now with all that said will you just trust me and let me go do this without having to leave with the last thing we said to each other having been an argument?"

"I don't have much choice do I? You'll do it no matter what I say but I promise you if there is a single night in the next week that I don't hear from you I'll hold you to that about being able to make Strickland call you back in." The moment's past now and he's holding me tightly as we wait for the car horn outside signifying that I have to go. I can still feel his nervousness and I know he can feel mine but it'll be over soon and I can't wait. I've been brunette for all of 12 hours and very little of that time has been fun, roll on a week from now when I can go back to being blond I'm telling you that day can't come soon enough!


	3. Chapter 3

**** For authors notes, disclaimer etc. see chapter 1**

Blonds have more fun 3/?

"So what we have in mind is for you to attended the funeral and hopefully set Marx on edge ma'am." Oh god I'm being briefed by some fast tracked DI who looks like he wasn't even out of nappies when I started doing this.

"Please call me Sandra I can't be doing with the whole "ma'am" thing I'm not the queen. What makes you think that he'll be at all bothered that I'm her sister I mean I've read the file and he doesn't strike me as the fluffy, easily rattled, sentimental type." The more I hear about what they are trying to do here the more convinced I am that they are a pile of idiots. They've been on the case of this psycho and his underworld business dealings for over a year now and suddenly they are going to try to flush him out with some sentimental crap about feeling guilty when he sees the sister of the woman he claimed to love before hacking her into pieces. I'm not buying it, I'm not buying it at all there's more to this sudden upsurge in interest than they are telling me. Something has prompted this sudden need to nail him even though any officer with half a brain knows that trying to force his hand is a big mistake. "DI…..Richards why…."

"Call me Alan like you say given what we are doing here first names are probably more appropriate."

"Ok Alan why are you moving on this now? I spent the whole drive here looking at the files and all the intelligence you've gathered on him from your man on the inside and everything says wait it out, you're gathering a good file of evidence about him another couple of months and you could just walk up to him and bring him in then when you have him you could bring up the murder." Something just flickered across his eyes and I know this is something bigger than just wanting to nail a murder and small time gangster and my gut is telling me Gerry may have been right this might be a huge mistake. "Alan I can't go in there without knowing all the facts, what's changed?"

"Do you smoke? Maybe we should go outside for a cigarette and I'll fill you in."

"I don't but my partner does so I'm used to being around it, why can't we just talk here?" He's looking shiftily around the other officers all busy at their desks and that feeling that something isn't right is getting even stronger by the second.

"Just come outside with me and I'll fill you in but you've got to promise not to tell the rest of the guys I've told you they're worried it'll compromise your ability to act naturally around him." What the hell is it with everyone and their insistence that I can't just do my job properly at the minute? Why would anything I might find out prevent me from being objective? What could be worse than having looked at the crime scene photos and read the pathologist report?

"Alan what's going on? My guvnor briefed me on the sort of man Marx is we know what he did to Annie and I still don't see why that means we should jump the gun it's a big risk if he doesn't take the bait he could start to suspect everything around him then your guy on the inside could be compromised or anything."

"Yeah well your guvnor wasn't exactly given all the facts." Wow back up a second that just doesn't happen. If you want to bring in an officer from another section of the MET it's protocol to fully brief the highest ranking officer involved when asking for the secondment. I told you something about this didn't feel right didn't I? "I didn't agree with the decision not to tell you and your boss everything but no one in there agrees with me. I don't want to put you in danger though and well…..if they find out I've told you, if my guvnor finds out I'll be bounced back to uniform so my feet won't touch the fucking ground."

"What's going on Alan? Look I can't promise not to call my boss in on this if I think it warrants it but I can promise to keep your name out of it if I do." He knows if he tells me something that compromises me or the case I have to tell Strickland but the best I can do for him is not tell anyone where I got the information from if he ever tells me the bloody information!

"Annie Martin….well she wasn't Annie Martin, she was Louise Cathcart, one of us, a WPC brought up out of uniform to go in undercover and try to get close to Marx trouble was she got a little too close." Oh my god! How can they have kept this from us, how can Strickland not have known the MET is like a sieve when it comes to this sort of information it leaks no matter how much people try to keep it under wraps.

"Alan you've got to be kidding, you can't just keep this sort of information from people who are going to be directly involved in the case. How am I supposed to go in there and do my job with only half the facts it's like starting with one hand tied behind my back. You need to fill me in and you need to do it now then I'll decide how much I need to feed back to my guvnor."

"She was supposed to infiltrate a group of girls that hung around Marx like a pack of groupies, the idea was that they were constantly where he was if she saw anything that might help or backed up what we already knew she would report back. Problem was a couple of weeks into the operation she caught his eye before we knew it she was screwing him and insisting it was all for the good of the enquiry. Most of us wanted to pull her in right there and then on the grounds she was compromised but she was bringing us good information from right at the heart of Marx's world so our guvnor pulled rank and decided she should stick it out."

"I hate to say it but it's not the first time an undercover officer has had to get too close for comfort to a suspect." There's more to this I know and I'm already thinking about how quickly I can call Strickland but I need to put him at ease or he'll clam up and when I call in and we decide if I should stay or go I need all the information this time.

"Yeah well before we knew it we're six months in and she's his fucking live in bit of fluff. The information is become patchier and less reliable coming back from her and we can't be sure any more than she objective."

"So you call her in, debrief her and get her out of the area ASAP it's standard protocol Alan this isn't rocket science."

"We did, we called her in two days before she died, she fought it tooth and nail but eventually agreed to tell him it was over and allow us to bring her in. That was the afternoon before we now know he drugged her." Oh shit, this is bad, really bad the whole investigation is compromised and I know now why they didn't want us to know they're hoping to get enough on him that they can paper over the cracks and still get a conviction but his brief is going to feel like all his bloody Christmas's have come at once when he sees this. "When she disappeared for the two days and we hadn't heard from her we assumed she was in the process of breaking it off it wasn't unusual to not hear from her for days at a time we had a weekly briefing time and although we'd told her to break it off immediately we were prepared to sit tight till our next meeting time."

"Then you found the body? Do you reckon he killed her because she was breaking it off or do you think he knew she was undercover at the end."

"Honestly?"

"Yeah of course honestly I mean it's bad enough that you got me here under completely false pretences honesty really is the only way to go now."

"I think she told him. She was convinced at the end that he loved her and even though she told us she'd break it off I don't think she ever intended too. I think she told him that she'd started out undercover and she'd fallen for him thinking that he would just forget about the how it all started because he loved her."

"Men like Marx don't love they do control he'd have gone ape shit if she told him that."

"Yeah and that's exactly what I think happened. That's why my guvnor thinks that sending you in as a "sister" will spook him because he'll worry that she might have told you how she was planning to break it off or even if she was planning on coming clean with him. I don't think it's a possibility though my feeling is that if he thinks you might know anything at all you'll just be next on his hit list." OK well this is all going to hell and now he's looking at me like I should have some deep and meaningful revelation for him. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know but what I'm going to start by doing is briefing my boss, make my excuses in there tell them I've gone to the hotel to bone up on the case history or something." He's nodded sadly and is walking away and I have absolutely no idea right now what's going to happen next. What I do know is that this investigation is irrevocably compromised and nothing I can do here will make it more likely that they'll get a conviction so I can't see any point on carrying on with it.


	4. Chapter 4

**** For authors notes, disclaimer etc. see chapter 1**

Blonds have more fun 4/?

"Sandra I'm sorry about this had I been fully briefed I would never have agreed to put you in that position." Strickland is furious I can hear it in his voice and I could have predicted that he would be. The thing is the more I've thought about it since leaving the station and coming back to the hotel the more I'm not sure that pulling out is the right thing to do. "The investigation is clearly compromised Sandra and the officers involved know it which is why they didn't tell me. I'm calling you back in there's no way you can be put at risk this man is a psychopath and yes I know we were aware of that already but if he knows there was an undercover female officer in his immediate circle and he didn't spot her immediately then he's going to be hyper aware of any new faces and even someone as good as you is going to be at risk."

"I know sir but I've been thinking Louise Cathcart screwed up there's no getting away from that but she's still one of us or was, don't you think we should nail this guy? I've enough experience not to put myself in a situation that's potentially dangerous. The plan was never for me to get that close to him it was simply for me to be there in the hope it might make him panic." I know he's not going for this I can hear it already in the way he's just sighed in my ear but it's something I feel I have to say, if he decides to pull me in there's nothing I can do but I think I should at least put it out there that under the right circumstances I'm prepared to stay.

"I understand what you're saying Sandra and I'm not doubting your abilities for a second but loyalty isn't a reason to take unnecessary risks. What are you thinking?" Ok at least he's giving me a chance to put my ideas across though I still think he's leaning toward pulling the plug right now.

"Look just by attending the funeral and getting the lay of the land doesn't mean we're committed to following through with the operation and before that I can get a look at the case and see if it's salvageable. I know that they won't be able to use any of the undercover information they got from Cathcart because of her personal relationship with Marx but there may be a case still. Their SIO has basically given up and I out rank him anyway so spending the day going through the files and report back to you tonight." I that the idea of a guy like Marx getting away with what he's done because of a screw up on the part of the SIO who seems to have no decided he should just hide in his office and do nothing. Yes the WPC shouldn't have got involved like she did but as soon as it looked like it was going that way he should have brought her in and had her debriefed then kept as far away from Marx and his people as possible so it's as much his fault as hers.

"Ok I'll sanction you spending today examining the case but I'm not prepared to say yes to you going anywhere near Marx until we know more. I'll call the SIO though like you say he seems to have given up, then I'll ok you taming temporary control with the Commissioner. I'll get back to you in half an hour until then sit tight and don't go back to the station I'll call you there."

He's gone and now I'm sitting here on a hotel bed in a soulless room and I know I have a bigger problem than waiting for his call. How much do I tell Gerry or do I tell him anything at all? See if I tell him nothing and Strickland briefs them I'm in big trouble and I can't tell Strickland not to tell them because then he's going to want to know why and Gerry and I have worked hard at making sure he doesn't know about our relationship.

"Gerry it's me." He sounds so glad to hear my voice I can't tell him that I'm seriously considering putting myself in danger I know how he'll react and the fact that he's there and won't be able to do anything about it will only make it worse.

"How's it going baby? I miss you already! How did your briefing go this morning?" Shit this is too hard I need to think this through before I talk to him.

"It went ok, look I just wanted to call quickly to hear you voice I miss you too I'll call later ok?" I've hung up on him so fast I'll be surprised if he hasn't immediately worked out that something's wrong but what the hell am I supposed to do? It's been 20 minutes since Strickland told me to wait half an hour and he'd call back and suddenly I'm not sure what I want his answer to be when he calls back. I meant it when I said I thought we should at least try but there are bigger issues as well. Gerry will go completely nuts if he hears the details of what's been going on here, there's every change the current SIO won't want to let me stick my nose in his case even though he has given up on it, and Strickland is right in one sense putting myself in danger out of loyalty and the idea of getting justice for one of our own isn't really going to achieve anything. I want to do this but when I do these things and take the risks the boys are always complaining about me taking I always have them for back up. I'd never tell them that but the fact that they have my back no matter what is what gives me the confidence to do it.

"Sandra I've made some calls." Strickland is back on the phone and there's a resignation in his voice that tells me his calls with the local guys hasn't help his opinion of how the case has been run so far. "Forsyth has been taken off the case and the commissioner says the case is yours if you want it. He says go in today look at the case, speak to the other officers who've been involved and report back to us in the morning if you think there's no way to save the case against Marx then we will pull the plug, if you think there's still a chance of getting him then we'll discuss options then."

"Ok sir is Forsyth being given another team to work with while I'm there?" I don't want the SIO to be shunted out without accepting that he needs to go because if he has been his team are going to resent me like hell and I'll get nowhere with them. I need them to be on side, actually I need them to be on side and I need my guys here too.

"He's gone willingly, the commissioner says he's pretty defeated by this case he's going to take some leave apparently he and Cathcart were close he'd brought her in for the job because he knew her and assured them all she was good. In short he blames himself for her death. His team know he's not up to it you shouldn't have a problem with them."

"That's something, Forsyth must be in a bad way though can't have been easy for him when he realised she was getting too involved I suppose he didn't want to believe it especially if he knew her and recommended her." He's agreeing with me and now I have to make my one and only request and considering that I've been thrown in her blind I don't think it's an unreasonable one. "If we decide to take this on after I look at it today I want my guys up here too."

"Sandra I don't see what Jack, Gerry and Brian can do that the team you have there can't." I expected him to say no straight out and to have to fight a little more but there's a certain level of acceptance in his tone that tells me if I put my argument across well here he'll give me them without much of a fight.

"They know the way I work and they have more experience in these situations than the rest of the existing team put together I'm not suggesting them go out interviewing suspects or doing busts on Marx's business premises but I need them here in the office as backup they can find things and look at evidence in a way that serving officers just don't see you know that."

"OK look just go look at the case and get back to me in the morning and we'll discuss it then if you really need them you can have them but we need to see if there's a case to work first."

"Yes sir I'll get back there now and I'll speak to you in the morning." He's gone again and at least I know that if I do end up staying here and working this case they'll be here with me. With them by my side I can face anything.


	5. Chapter 5

**** For authors notes, disclaimer etc. see chapter 1**

Blonds have more fun 5/?

"Alan it's Sandra I need all of the Marx file here at the hotel can you bring them over for me?" I was going to go into the office and look at the case there but I need to be able to do it objectively without the original team trying to explain it or influence my opinions on the evidence. He's agreed to bring it all over and I'm going to meet him in the restaurant downstairs for lunch. I will need some on the investigation background and he was the one who brought the issues to my attention when he really didn't have to so I don't mind spending an hour with him having lunch and getting the case details before I lock myself away in here for the rest of the day and see what's really going on.

"Jack it's me can you move away from the others and not make it obvious it's me you're talking to." Now that I've arrangements made with Alan I need to speak to one of them and I know the obvious choice would be Gerry but he'll panic and I don't need that right now. I need someone to listen and take what I'm saying in without going all "protective boyfriend" on me.

"OK I'm in the car park what's happening Sandra and why don't you want the others to know?" Another reason to tell Jack first is that , as you've just heard, he doesn't beat around the bush, he gets straight to the point and doesn't want pleasantries and small talk especially since he can already tell something is wrong.

"I'm going to give you the short version because I'm not even sure what the long version is yet myself but I don't want you telling Brian and definitely not Gerry just yet ok?" He's agreed and I've given him the abridged version of what I know and even though I can't see him I can tell you he'll be furious right now. He hates a badly run investigation and we see far too many of them in our line of work.

"What the hell was Forsyth thinking? Why didn't they pull the girl out as soon as they realised she was getting too close?" See I told you! When he was a serving officer he ran a seriously tight ship he let nothing slide hen the reason Hanson was so determined to get rid of him that he resorted to hurting Mary. Any hint that someone isn't working to the same standard infuriates him.

"He was too close to her, Anyway I'm going to spend the day looking at the case files to see if there's any way to save it and if there is I've told Strickland I want you three up here too so I thought at least one of you should be warned. Seriously though Jack you need to promise not to tell Gerry you know how he gets if he thinks I'm taking unnecessary risks."

"This time he'd be right Sandra don't you think you should just come home and let them sort out their own mess?"

"That's not what we do Jack you know that, we clear up other people's mess and we do it damn well." He knows I'm right and with a grudging promise not to tell Gerry he's gone and I need to get downstairs to meet Alan and see exactly how we're going to move forward and what , if anything, I can do here.

"Jesus Alan when I said I wanted to see the whole case I was expecting a couple of file folders not a small rain forests worth of stuff." I've met him in the lounge downstairs and he's sitting at the table with a pint and two large evidence storage boxes beside him. That's my afternoon, evening and probably most of the night sorted too.

"We've been working the case a long time and actually thought we were ready to nail him before all this started. I got you a glass of red and they'll bring over some menus now that you're here." I recognise the complete defeat in his tone and frankly the last thing I need with the prospect fo endless hours of work is wine but he was nice enough to get it so I should be polite enough to drink it.

"Look we don't know yet that your case is completely compromised that's why I'm going to work on it today if I think I can be saved my team will join us and we'll nail him2 I find it so hard to watch a fellow officer so upset by the collapse of a case we've all been there and it's the worst feeling in the world.

"Forsyth has cleared his desk and gone on leave. I can't see him coming back he's 2 years off mandatory retirement and could have taken voluntary last year if he'd wanted this has finished him off. He'll bide his time for a few weeks on leave then take his golden handshake and go."

"I know it's hard for you and you probably feel like you're being disloyal to him but I need to know as much as possible and not just the stuff that will be in those files boxes. Tell me about Forsyth why didn't he bring Cathcart in as soon as it was clear she was getting too involved with Marx?" I expected him to be reluctant to talk about his guvnor, to show some loyalty even though he knows there's nothing either of us can do to change what's already happened but he seems almost excited about spilling out everything he knows. This morning he genuinely seemed like a good guy who hated what he had to do but now I'm not so sure.

"Louise Cathcart was his prodigy, his "golden girl" he refused to see any wrong in her even when I told him what was going on he said he "trusted" her." There's real venom in his tone and I know it's hard at times to have your warnings ignored by your SIO but you live with it you don't take such obvious delight in it when another officer is dead and your SIO's careers is ending on such a terrible note. "Look I was supposed to be his number two on this case but he started shutting me out early on, no matter how hard I tried to convince him that he was making a mistake with that silly bitch he wouldn't listen and that just resulted in him shutting me out more."

"But you were there right through the whole things with Cathcart and Marx so you must have seen how the case was going didn't you think it might be a good idea to push your concerns a bit more? Didn't any of the rest of the team share your worry about the effect her relationship with Marx was having?"

The food has arrived and as he talks I'm eating in silence trying to take in every intonation or detail and something feels off about it, about him and I can't wait to get lunch over and get upstairs to form my own opinions.

"So he told them all I was over reacting, that she wasn't that involved and the team was pretty much split down the middle a lot of the team believed him because they'd known him and worked with him for years and they didn't want to face up to the fact he was past it and had screwed up." Ok now I really need to get out of here before I lose it with him completely. No one knows better than me that when it comes to detective work there's no such thing as "past it" and I'm getting the distinct impression that the "split" in the team was entirely engineered by him.

"Yeah I can understand that would have been frustrating for you. Well nice as this is I really should get upstairs and start working on all this stuff. I'll get one of the porters to bring those boxes upstairs for me." Shit he's on his feet before I even have a chance to call someone with a box in his hands heading for the lobby.

"No need for that we can take a box each I'll take this one you take the other what floor are you on."

"Second but honestly I can manage and that's what the porters are here for," He's ignoring me completely and is already at the lift waiting for me to catch up. God the sooner he goes and I can actually look at this stuff and see if the feeling I'm starting to get about him is right the better.

"Well this is nicer than I thought it would be. You never know from the outside of these hotels what they're going to be like inside." I tried to get him straight back out the door but instead he's managed move so I'm between him and the door and I'm starting to feel more than a bit uncomfortable I don't like this at all.

"Yeah look thanks for bringing the files up and for the extra information and everything but I really need to get working right now so…"

"You know it's a shame to spend the whole day with your nose in those files when you have this lovely room with what looks like a very comfortable bed to make the most of."

"Alan you really need to leave now before…." Oh my god I can't believe this he has me pinned against the wall and is trying very hard to stick his tongue down my throat as he paws at breasts through my jacket and I try to push him away. Bastard I swear if he doesn't get away from me in three seconds he'll not be walking out of here at all he'll need a bloody ambulance.

"Come on Sandra you know you've been give me all the right signals since we first met this morning why bother playing hard to get?" Signals? What the hell?

"Get out of here and do it now before I make you wish you'd never been born. I haven't been giving you signals I happen to be in a relationship with someone I love who would never dream of being as much of a bastard as you clearly are and even if I wasn't in a relationship you wouldn't stand a chance now unless you want to be talking several octaves higher and facing a sexual harassment charge I suggest you fuck off and don't come back here again. If and when I need to speak to you again I'll do it at the station." He's actually sneering at me, god my gut feeling over lunch was clearly bang on he's a complete tosser.

"You know what you are? A fucking tease, well fine when you fuck up this case as well I'll watch you get buried and enjoy it even more than that geriatric idiot Forsyth." He's finally left slamming the door behind him and now that he's gone I'm shaking and I can't catch my breath. I can't believe he did that, I can't believe that he thought pawing at me and kissing me like he was somehow entitled to would get him anywhere. I really need Gerry to be here right now, actually I need them all but him in particular and …..shit he's persistent the bloody door is knocking and since no one else knows I'm here it has to be him pull yourself together Sandra don't let him see that he got to you.

"Look I've already told you to….Oh sorry I was expecting someone else." Now I'm really surprised because instead of him on the other side of the door it's Forsyth and I can't decide if I'm relieved, confused or furious that they all seem to think it's fine to just wander into my room!

"I saw Richards leave you look upset what did he do to you?"

"What makes you think he did anything and I'm sorry if I sound rude but what are you doing here I'm supposed to be trying to sort this mess out and none of you seem to want to actually give me peace to do that." I know I sound like a complete bitch right now but I'm starting to get seriously pissed off.

"Experience, he's a slimy bastard and you are a good looking girl he's assume you would just fall at his feet. Look I'm not her to interfere I just wanted to leave this off it might help. I kept some notes of my own, good luck with the case I really hope you nail Marx. Louise Cathcart was a good copper and she's been badmouthed out of turn. Anyway you'll see what I mean when you look at the notes."

"Michael come in, I'm sorry, you're right Richards crossed the line and it shocked me but that's no reason to treat you so badly." Don't ask me why I've suddenly decided to let him in because I don't know., Maybe it's because something about him reminds me of Jack and my gut is telling me he's a hell of a lot more trustworthy than Alan Richards. Whatever the reason I think I should at least hear him out, get his side of the story before I potentially tear his working methods and case apart.


	6. Chapter 6

**** For authors notes, disclaimer etc. see chapter 1**

Blonds have more fun 6/?

"Sit down, do you want a coffee or something?" I've motioned toward the two chairs and small table by the window and he's shaking his head. Clearly he wants to say what he has to say and do it without much faffing about something else that reminds me of Jack. My gut is telling me the complete opposite about him that it did about Richards and I'm much more interested in what he has to tell me than anything his ex-colleague did.

"I know what you must think looking at the way things have ended up but you don't know the whole story but like I said it's all in my notes."

"I'd rather hear it from you directly. Look I'm not here to blacken your name or listen to only what tossers like Richards have to say. I know that the reputation of UCOS seems to follow us around like a bad smell and a lot of people believe that we are only here to get justice for the victims and their families we're not here to go after other officers and we aren't in the business of going after anyone or wrecking reputations." I hate that I always seem to have to defend what we do to the original investigating officers in the cases we work I hate that it seems at times like they'd rather the wrong person stayed in jail or no one ever served time for the crimes they failed to solve rather than admit they might have been wrong.

"You're preaching to the converted here Sandra….you don't mind me calling you Sandra do you?" He seems like such a gentleman he couldn't offend even if he decided to refer to me as "hey you" for the entire conversation and I like him a little more for asking though.

"Of course not, tell me what happened Michael why didn't you pull Louise in when you saw she was getting close to Marx? Even if she hadn't been killed any evidence she brought in after the start of her personal relationship with the suspect could have been deemed inadmissible or been torn apart by the defence. I know you were close and everything but didn't it ever cross your mind that she was in over her head?"

"She wasn't in over her head and she wasn't as involved with him as Richard's is telling everyone she was. I debriefed her ever week and I can tell you she knew what she was doing, she wasn't sleeping with him and she sure as hell hadn't fallen for him I'm not a complete idiot Louise was like a daughter to me I would never have left her in that situation if I thought she was in trouble or had lost her focus on why she was there." I want to believe him, my gut is telling me that he genuinely believes what he's saying I just don't know if he was blind to what was actually happening or if it wasn't happening at all. "Someone was feeding information to Marx and for the couple of weeks before she died she'd started to notice he seemed to know more than he should about the investigation she heard him talking to a couple of his heavies about it then when we decided to pull her out because it was getting too dangerous suddenly the shit hit the fan he found out that she was undercover and he didn't find out form her whatever Richards says. He's telling anyone who'll listen that she was in love with Marx and she told him she was undercover because she believed that he wouldn't care because he loved her too and that's just bullshit if you'll excuse my language. She knew what she was doing and the only reason she wasn't out of there earlier was because she didn't want to jeopardise the whole investigation by doing a disappearing act out of the blue and she was working up to it she'd dropped in the idea that she had a sister and that she was in trouble and she was planning to tell him on the Saturday that she had to go to her sisters for a while to help her out then she's murdered on the Wednesday. Someone told him what was going on and that she wasn't going anywhere except back to her day job trying to through his sorry ass behind bars and that's what got her killed."

"I get the feeling you think you know who it was?" It's more than a feeling he does know who it was I can see it in his eyes the question is will he tell me or not. If I was in his shoes I'd worry about coming across as petty or that I was trying to cover up my own mistake by changing the history of a situation involving an officer who was no longer here to tell her side of the story and an officer still in their job while I wasn't. We walk a tightrope constantly in this job there's always the risk of getting too involved with cases and when you work closely with people if they are in a bad place sometimes you will do anything and make any excuse rather than admit it.

"Yeah I think I have an idea. Look I know right now I sound like an old man who can't let go or admit that someone he trusted screwed up and maybe when you read all the files and my notes and look at it all with an objective eye you'll still feel that way but if you want my opinion on the team dynamic and who was spilling their guts to Marx I'll give it to you. I'm not saying believe me I'm just saying bare it in mind when you look at the case." You see why I'm having a problem here he doesn't seem to have any preconceptions about me and he isn't up in my face trying to force his opinions on my like Richards was I have to hear him out then I'll feel like I have all the information when I finally get to looking at this stuff.

"How about I make us both a coffee and you tell me what you have to say, all I want is to look at this case objectively and I got that wanker Richards opinions all over lunch so it's only fair I hear yours too then I can see which if any of them I think is closest to the truth." I have a feeling when I do look at this the truth will lie somewhere in between his opinion and Richards so there's no such thing as too much info.

"When I brought Louise in the team all thought I was mad, she was young, she was a PC still in uniform and they didn't think she had the experience or the ability to deal with something so serious but she won them round she worked with us for a couple of weeks getting briefed and up to speed with the case and for the most part they all agreed that provided she was regularly debriefed she'd be ok. Richards never accepted that I'd brought her in because he wanted someone different. He'd been having a fling with a fast tracked DI in vice and I have a feeling he as good as told her he'd get her in and it would be good for her promotion prospects to be in on a big bust like Marx. He tried to split the team on more than one occasion and when it didn't work he bided his time and I'm convinced he started feeding information to Marx people. Before we sent Louise in I had the feeling that there was something not right but I convinced myself that I was being paranoid because he was so against it but now I think he was in Marx pocket before we even launched the undercover investigation."

"So that's why you started to shut him out more and more of what was happening with Louise it wasn't that you were trying to hide what she was doing because it was wrong it was because you were worried about how much was being passed back to Marx?" I've handed him a coffee and his nodding sadly right now my heart is breaking for him and much as I want to just accept he's telling the truth because of the experience I've just had with Richards I still need to keep an open mind, I've met plenty slimy bastards over the years in the job and much as they make your skin crawl it doesn't mean they are bent or on the take.

"Yeah and that was when he started to really work at splitting the team and it started to work. Look I hope I'm wrong I hope when you look at this all no one was in Marx pocket and he just got wind that Louise was going to disappear and didn't want to let her go so none of what Richards has said about her is right but none of my suspicions about him are either. All I'm asking is that you be aware of both sides before you start. I'll leave you to it now my number is on the inside of the note book if you need me or if you do bring your guys up and they want to talk to me then you know how to reach me."

"I appreciate it and I appreciate you not taking this personally." He's on his feet his untouched coffee still on the table as he heads for the door and through it with nothing more than another nod of acknowledgment and I'm finally alone again. I have so much information going round in my head now that I need to speak to the boys, all of them, time for a conference call before I get started so that I can at least have another opinion or three that aren't directly connected with the case. Then I feel like I'll actually be able to spend the evening looking at it all and make a decision by the morning about whether I should run with it or run away from it.


	7. Chapter 7

**** For authors notes, disclaimer etc. see chapter 1**

Blonds have more fun 7/?

"Jesus where the hell am I supposed to start?" I'm finally alone in my room surrounded by case files and I'm not sure how to begin to sort this mess out. I've already showered and changed into lose fitting grey joggers and a vest so I'm comfortable and also to wash away the residual grubbiness from my encounter with Alan Richards. I'd assumed that the shower would clear my head, consolidate what I have heard and make it easy to see where to go next but it hasn't.

Right now I need my boys, I need the white board that I have borrowed from the hotels conference room to be filled with Brian's anal colour coded lists, Gerry's photos with little details under them and Jack's tables that make everything seem clearer. Over the years we've developed a way of working together to pick apart the most complicated cases and the worst put together notes and evidence. Today though I have to do it myself and I have to get started I'm already looking at the prospect of no sleep!

"What the hell!" I'd just sat down on the bed to open the first box and the bloody door has knocked again. Who the hell is it this time! "I swear whoever you are if you don't have a bloody time machine so I can go back and refuse to do this you better have life insurance because…."

"We don't have a time machine but we do have booze and snacks and we're here to help is that enough?" Gerry has just walked past me with a quick peck on the lips and is in the room quickly followed by Brian and Jack. I can't believe this and I'm starting to seriously suspect that when I sat down to start working I feel asleep and am dreaming this!

"Wow Sandra what the hell have you done to your hair?" Nope I'm definitely awake if I was dreaming Brian would be much, much more tactful!

"Nice to see you too Brian. What are you doing here? How did you even know I might need you?" I'm glaring at Jack, delighted as I am to see them I did tell jack I didn't want them to know what was going on.

"Don't look at me, Strickland sent us, and Brian has a point about your hair since when are you a brunette?" God everything that's going on right now and their biggest issue is my hair colour! Is it odd that I find that really reassuring? They're here I don't know why Strickland decided to send them now but I'm not going to complain. "Gerry are you on board with her changing her hair colour?"

"Not really but…."

"But he doesn't get to pick my hair colour! Can we focus please?" I've actually had to shout over the three of them to get them to shut up something else that is making me smile today rather than making me cross.

"Sorry Sandra." They crack me up when they all answer at once like kids apologising to their mother or a teacher or something.

"Good. Why did Strickland send you now? Don't get me wrong I'm pleased you are here but he wasn't even prepared to start thinking about sending you down here when I was talking to him this morning until he was sure there was a case to work. Why'd he change his mind?"

"Search me." Gerry looks completely confused and so does Brian but Jack is try too hard to look like he hasn't a clue either. This is his doing after our conversation this morning he clearly had them all in the car with Strickland's blessing within half an hour but he'll never admit it.

"Ok well whatever the reason I'm glad you're here, Jack, Brian did you get a room?"

"Oh yeah unfortunately we have to share they are book solid for the whole week because of some Sci-Fi conference on at the local conference centre so the sooner we can get this wrapped up the better. I can only share with Brian's obsessive bed time routine for so long Esther has warned me it's not pretty."

"Yeah well we've all heard you snore like a steam train when you fall asleep in the car so I'm not thinking it'll be a bundle of laughs sharing with you either!" They are both looking like the fact they will be in the same room in the dark might mean I have two more murders to deal with before this is out and frankly I don't blames them. As far as Jack's concerned I wouldn't be excited about sharing a room with Brian, much as I love him and everything I see enough of his weird obsessions in the day time I don't need to see what they are like at night! In saying that Brian has a point too we have al suffered through Jack's pneumatic drill like snoring when we're on long car journeys and it's not pleasant.

"Ok well look why don't I ring down and get them to bring some hot food up I'm guessing you lot haven't eaten then we can see what you have in the booze bag, take a box each, eat, drink and organise and it should take us no time to put together what's here and get some stuff on the board so we know where we stand. The fact that board is so clean is freaking me out so let's get started." They have all started milling around opening boxes, pulling out files and I finally feel like we can get somewhere with this, Together we can make sense of it all, I can tell them what Forsythe told me and what Richards did and my opinion of both men and they'll know what we should believe and what we should discount. Not only that but with Gerry here I'm no longer nervous that every time I open the door I'm going to be faced with Alan Richards back for another go at proving to me that he's irresistible.


	8. Chapter 8

**** For authors notes, disclaimer etc. see chapter 1**

Blonds have more fun 8/?

"Why did Forsythe give you all of this? Do you think he's trying to influence your view on it all?" The boys have been here for half an hour now and we've been sorting all the evidence in the boxes into manageable piles. Now with a glass of wine each and the winter afternoon turning to night outside Jack is going through Forsthye's note book and I can see his scepticism.

"I don't know. That was my thought when he first arrived but the more I talked to him the more I think he's just a good man who has got caught up in a bad situation." I have all of their full attention now and I'm not sure how to put across my gut feeling on the exact seat Jack now is not two hours ago.

"What did he say about Richards? From the notes he doesn't seem to have much confidence in him, was it the same impression you got?" Ah see now I have a dilemma Gerry has asked a perfectly normal and reasonable question but if I tell him about Richards making a pass at me then there's ever chance that when we do meet him again he'll knock him out. If I don't though it would be like lying by omission and I don't like doing that either. We promised each other we'd always be honest about things no matter how upsetting that honesty might be.

"Richards is a slime ball, we had lunch and he brought the evidence boxes, he did a damn good job of trying to portray Forsythe and Louise as incompetent and useless then when I told him I'd get a porter to bring the boxes up he insisted on helping then decided he'd have a go at sticking his tongue down my throat.

"He did what?" See I told you, he's immediately gone off the deep end and even Jack and Brian don't look best pleased.

"Relax I handled it I don't think he'd be stupid enough to try anything again but the point I'm making is that he isn't the most loyal of colleagues he seemed aggressive and determined that I should believe that Forsythe was too blinded by loyalty to his protégé to see what was really going on. Not only that but he's seriously full of himself if I had been less able to handle myself he'd have been very hard to fight off earlier. I don't like him that doesn't mean I think he is definitely the leak though I can't decide about that yet."

"You're not so sure that Forsythe was blinded by loyalty though?" I know Jack can understand the way Forsythe might have been feeling. A long time ago he took me under his wing in the same way that Forsythe seems to have done with Louise. He encouraged me, helped where he could, but if I'd been in trouble or he thought I was getting involved where I shouldn't he'd have reigned me in and my gut tells me Forsythe would have done the same.

"No I think he would have been as prepared to stamp out anything inappropriate with her as he would with any of his team. For now my gut is telling me that there was someone on the inside telling Marx what was going on and that's what got Louise killed."

"Was it Richards though or was he just a mediocre cop who would rather put the blame on anyone but himself?" Brian always cuts to the nub of the matter and this is no different. Gerry is writing names and sticking pictures to the board and I finally feel like we're getting somewhere.

"I'm trying to keep an open mind on it, to be honest, all my instinct is telling me he needs watching and that he could well be in the pocket of more than one criminal including Marx but we've nothing to prove it yet so we need to cover all bases."

"OK well let's look at the facts then, do we have any reason to believe that she was shagging Marx? Other than Richards word for it of course?" God I love Gerry but his way of putting things is nothing if not direct, he has made me smile though. My boys are back with all their little foibles and it's perfect.

"The debriefing notes I have don't indicate an inappropriate relationship." Brian has a small pile of notes spread out on the desk in the corner and is scanning them. "She was debriefed once a week, never at the same time or on the same day, I assume Forsythe did that so as not to arouse suspicion from suspicion from Marx."

"What sort of things is she say in the debriefing do we have recordings?" Recording? Now he's asking! One of the best resources we have when dealing with cold cases is to hear the voices of the people involved, like a story being told from beyond the grave and I don't see why this should be any different just because it didn't happen a quarter of a century ago. "Yeah there's a box of tapes some of interviews with Marx's known associates and some of her debriefings and there's an old tape player I borrowed from reception. You should have seen the face of the young guy behind when I asked, I don't think he's old enough to have ever seen a tape player before let alone used one."

"Well he'd be used to digital downloads and iPods the idea that you one had to have a tape and it meant pushing buttons and recording things would be like something from the dark ages for him." Oh my god the last thing I need right now is for Brian to go off on one of his lectures about changing technology, time to step in.

"Yeah, right let's see what she has to say for herself. Just start with the first one and work through them they won't be long debriefings never last more than 10 or 15 minutes."

He's put the first tape in the player and hit play we've all fallen silent as the voice of Louise Cathcart fills the room followed by that of Michael Forsythe.

"I think it's going ok Michael I mean I'm taking it slowly I've made friends with one of his inner circle a girl called Maria Wilson you might want to get me some background on her and another girl too Anita Dawson. They seem to be closest to him right now."

"Ok I'll get the guys on to that and see if they can pull anything up on them before we meet next week. You are being careful aren't you? I mean if you think for a second that he's on to you or any of his circle are then you tell me and we'll get you out of there. No chances, no heroics that what we agreed."

"Pause the tape and get those names up on the board with any luck there'll be some background on them in this stuff." The sound of Louise's voice has brought it all home to me in Technicolor and suddenly I'm more determined than ever to get to the bottom of it. I know I can't prove it yet but my gut is telling me she was screwed over by someone who should have been on her side and I intend to find out who that was.


End file.
